Category Archives: Violence

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Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) – Review

Review Die Hard with a Vengeance

The hope that we’ll get another new Die Hard movie which is worth watching seems to getting smaller as the movies (and the acting Bruce Willis does) are getting worse. Still the the original Die Hard movie and this third film in this franchise have gained a special place in my heart. They are wonderful, entertaining action movies in which the main characters end up in a situation which they can’t control and are forced to do anything to make the best of it with the means available. Continue reading →

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Juggernaut (1974) – Review

Review Juggernaut

Often we tend to focus on new things. In the field of films and series, we feel (especially if you blog about movies), forced to see what has just been released as soon as possible. Therefore we sometimes forget to reflect on what’s already there and may have missed in the past. Especially when it comes to older films, it is sometimes difficult to find out what films are worth seeing, but which don’t appear in the “classics” lists. For example, I had never heard of Juggernaut, until I was researching films with bombs in them. It seems it is the first film to have a bomb defusing scene where someone needs to make the choice between cutting a red or a blue wire. Continue reading →

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Speed (1994) – Review

Review Speed

This week is a bit of a theme week here as I’m reviewing films that contain bombs. So I’ve recently rewatched a couple (and some for the first time) and will review them this week. On Friday I’ll close it of with a top 10 of the best movies with bombs.

So today it’s time for the first movie and that’s one with a Dutch influence. The director is none other than Jan de Bont and this was his American film debut, one which made a splash and would allow him to direct mmovies like Twister and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life Continue reading →

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Beast of No Nation (2015) – Review

Review Beasts of No Nation

Although I have a broad taste in movies, the horror genre is one that I really avoid. I simply don’t enjoy making myself voluntarily uncomfortable, I don’t have that need. Give me a good action film or a wonderful documentary and I’m sure to have a great time. Netflix has a wide range for those tastes and in recent years the company has become a provider of many films and series that are worth watching. To ensure that they stay ahead of HBO they started making their own series, with great success (think Orange is the New Black or House of Cards).

Beasts of No Nation is their first “feature” film, which wasn’t only released on their own service, but was also shown in a limited number of cinemas on the same day. Although Netflix normally doesn’t release any numbers, they were proud to announce it had been watched three million times. But because huge numbers are no guarantee of a good movie (think Transformers), the question is whether Beasts of No Nation is a successful first step into their own movies. Continue reading →

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The Hateful Eight (2015) – Review

Recensie The Hateful Eight

The number of directors of which I need to see their latest movie can be counted on one hand. Quentin Tarantino is certainly one of them, because since seeing his first two films I’ve been a big fan of his style. A director with his own voice, his own kind of movies where not only the images are fantastic, but the choice of music is always original and dialogues is always recognizable as his own (whether in Reservoir Dogs or in a special episode CSI). A new Tarantino film is always an event for me and I could hardly wait to The Hateful Eight, his eighth film. Continue reading →

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Good Kill (2014) – Review

Review Good Kill

At first glance it seem easy to describe what we experience as reality. But if you think some more about it, you may wonder whether it’s really that simple. Of course when you are outside or walking around your home everything you see is real, what you see is actually there.

But what if you’re reading a book? That book is real, but when you read the text your brains is forming images. If you immerse yourself in a book everything around you disappears. The same is true if you are watching a movie or playing a game. The moment you’re engaged by it then that’s your reality, even if you are able to distinguished it as something that is created afterwards. Yet that line is becoming less clear, with the advent of ever more realistic graphics and of course the various VR systems. I myself already notice that with some games I have issues executing specific actions because some of it looks or at least feels so real. So it isn’t a big step to be able to empathize with the job of a drone pilot, as in Good Kill. Continue reading →

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Sicario (2015) – Review

Review Sicario

As children, we learn that we have to color inside the lines, that in fairy tales there is only right and wrong, and that the world consists of contradictions: Black / White. As you get older you start to realise life is not so simple, that nuance exists and there is always another side to a story. Not everyone always takes the time to look into the nuance because it makes it easier to form an opinion about something or to make a judgment.

This also applies to the law. Of course a judge looks at the facts of a case and decides if something is right or wrong. But what do you as a police unit against an enemy who is able to do anything and has more money, people and weapons available than you? Should you still have to follow the rules when you see that you won’t be able to win that way? Continue reading →

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A Perfect Day (2015) – Review

Review A Perfect Day

Although we all would prefer to see an end to the wars in the world, it seems like an unfeasible dream. Even if a ware ends somewhere, there is another place where another one begins. A Perfect Day takes place in the Balkans during the nineties, when the war is almost over and the UN is doing everything possible to make the area safe again. A Doctors Without Borders team works in the area and has the task to ensure that all wells contain clean drinking water. This may mean that there are bodies to be removed from those wells, to guarantee the water remains usable. Mambru (Benicio Del Toro) is trying to get the dead, swollen body of an obese man out of a well with his car, but because his equipment is in bad shape he fails. He contacts his colleague B (Tim Robbins), who along with newcomer Sophie (Mélanie Thierry) come over to help. It is the beginning of a long day .. Continue reading →

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No Escape (2015) – Review

Review No Escape

If I was to base my movie watching purely on reviews than I would never watch No Escape. They painted this as a horrible movie, which just like The Impossible, only focussed on white family abroad needing to survive, while also showing the local people negatively. Oh yeah, and the actors were supposedly miscast as well. Luckily I’m a very stubborn person, so I decided to form my own opinion about this movie. Continue reading →

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) – Review

Review Star Wars The Force Awakens
When a new Star Wars movie is released, this of course means a lot of hype (and marketing). It meant that the last few months it was next to impossible to stay aways from news about the film (something which I did manage, mostly). A new part in this beloved series also means impossible expectations from the fans. Does director J.J.Abrams succeed to meet them with this seventh movie in the Star Wars saga…or is this the new Phantom Menace? Continue reading →